Pull out all the stops — to make every possible effort and use all available resources to achieve a goal. When someone pulls out all the stops, they spare nothing — time, money, energy, or creativity — in pursuit of success.
Origin & History
This expression comes from pipe organ playing. A pipe organ produces sound through hundreds of individual pipes, each controlled by a wooden or metal knob called a stop. When the organist pulls out a stop, it opens that group of pipes and adds its voice to the music. Pulling out all the stops opens every pipe at once, producing the loudest, fullest, most powerful sound the instrument can make.
The figurative meaning — giving maximum effort or using every resource available — entered general English use in the 19th century. The writer Matthew Arnold used a version of the phrase in 1865 in his essay collection Essays in Criticism. By the 20th century it was firmly established in everyday speech.
Example Sentences
| Sentence | Context |
|---|---|
| They pulled out all the stops to make the company party unforgettable. | Business / event planning |
| The hospital staff pulled out all the stops to save the patient's life. | Medical emergency |
| She pulled out all the stops for her daughter's wedding, hiring a live band and a five-course caterer. | Family celebration |
| The national team pulled out all the stops in the final quarter and won by three points. | Sports commentary |
| We'll need to pull out all the stops if we want to secure this contract before the deadline. | Professional / workplace |
How to Use It
Use pull out all the stops when you want to emphasise that every possible resource or effort is being committed to a task. It is most natural with verbs in the past or future tense and works well in both spoken English and informal writing such as emails or news articles.
The subject is typically a person, team, organisation, or company — someone who is actively choosing to give maximum effort. You can also use it as a command or suggestion: "We need to pull out all the stops here."
Conversation Examples
A: The client visit is next Friday. How are we preparing?
B: We're pulling out all the stops — new presentation, catered lunch, and a product demo.
A: That's a big account. I'm glad we're not cutting corners.
A: Did you see the campaign launch? It looked incredible.
B: They really pulled out all the stops. I heard they worked through the weekend to finish it.
Common Mistakes
Mistakes to Avoid
We pulled out the stops for the event.
We pulled out all the stops for the event. — The word "all" is essential; omitting it sounds unnatural.
She pulled all the stops out to impress the judges.
She pulled out all the stops to impress the judges. — Keep the standard word order: "pull out all the stops", not "pull all the stops out".
I will pull out all the stops alone to fix this.
We will pull out all the stops to fix this. — The idiom usually implies a collective or significant effort; using it for a trivial task can sound exaggerated.
Related Idioms
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